FRERARD The Middle of the Day That Starts it All
by Silvercape
Summary: This is a short story about the imaginary pairing of Frank Iero and Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance, about how they fictionally came together in a fictional art shop after fictionally being apart.


**The Middle of the Day that Starts it All.**

Gerard drummed his fingers lazily on the desk. It had been almost half  
an hour since the shop had seen its last customer, and Gerard had  
stood slouched in this same position since. Fuck, he was bored.

At first, Gerard had loved working in an art shop. But after almost a  
year, the constant longing for every single piece of merchandise in  
the place had become tiresome. The job's pay wasn't too great, and art  
school didn't come cheap, so Gerard could rarely afford the stuff that  
surrounded him every day.

Just as he was about to close up shop and let himself leave slightly  
early, the gentle chiming of the door told him there was finally a  
customer. Gerard lifted his head but the apparent stranger was hidden  
amongst the paintbrushes.

Gerard walked up to him and was just about to ask if he wanted any  
help when he looked up. Gerard's heart stopped as he recognized him  
instantly.

"Frank?"

Frank's eyes darted upwards and caught Gerard's awestruck hazel ones.

"Way! It's you!"

Within half a second the two best friends had flung themselves at  
each other and were embracing in the tightest hug imaginable.

And Gerard imagined Frank.. but a Frank who wasn't wearing a top, and  
who was pressing his bare chest against Gerard's.. And wait... Why did  
he have to think that right now?

"How the fuck are you?"

Gerard dragged himself out of his fantasy and laughed as he replied,  
"Brilliant now, thanks to you! What are you doing here?"

"I moved like, two days ago? I literally live like, two blocks down?  
Sorry I didn't tell you, I've been busy as fuck! I didn't know you  
lived here!"

"Do you not listen to anything I say, Iero?" Gerard said, shaking his  
head, but knowing he couldn't be anything other than ecstatic that  
Frank was here.

Frank replied, "Of course I do, you know, but I don't tend to remember  
it." which cued an indignant snort from Gerard. "How long's it been,  
man? Six months?"

'Six months and five days', thought Gerard, although he just nodded.

Smirking, Frank added, "Come on man, I know you. How long's it been to  
the day?"

"189. Fuck you." he said as Frank giggled.

Gerard's boss chose this exact moment to come out of hiding in the  
store room. As Gerard hadn't even realised he was in there, to say he  
was startled was an understatement, but quickly adopting a formal  
manner managed to ask Frank, "So Sir, could I help you at all?"

Playing along, Frank told him, "Yeah, I'm just looking for some  
canvas, my girlfriend's kind of a painter, she wants to try it out."

Girlfriend? Gerard's heart dropped although his smile was hitched  
firmly in place. Gerard hoped desperately he really WAS just playing  
along.

Okay, so yeah, Gerard might have a kind of thing for Frank. Maybe he'd  
had 'a kind of thing' for Frank for nearly three years. But Frank was  
straight, and Frank was his best friend. And way out of his league,  
anyway.

As his boss smiled and retreated back into the store room, Gerard  
immediately questioned; "Girlfriend?"

"God no!" Gerard's heart suddenly felt considerably lighter. "Ahaha,  
that was all I could come up with, sorry Gee. Nah, I'm single, but...  
well it's complicated."

"Well, there's this person..."

"What's she like?"

Frank smiled, but a little too guiltily. "Er, well... they're nice,  
they.. er.. yeah."

"Come on man, don't we tell each other everything?" asked Gerard,  
desperately trying to tease some more information out of Frank.

"Oh okay, fine. Not here though.. do you think you could come on a  
walk?"

Gerard glanced towards the store room door. There was only ten minutes  
left on his shift and it wasn't like the shop was brimming with  
customers.

As his boss had a tendency to randomly leave out of the store room  
exit, Gerard chose to lock up on his way out, before turning to Frank  
and grinning, "I'm all yours."

Gerard could swear he heard a mumble of "I wish...", but he decided to  
put it down to his longing mind playing tricks on him.

"So. What's her name? Is she nice?"

"Yeah, real nice. Like, friendly too. The most selfless person I've  
ever met." smiled Frank. Gerard recognised that smile, it was the same  
smile he wore when he talked about Frank, and his insides squirmed  
with jealousy knowing that he didn't own Frank's smile. "And, er...  
you know when you just connect with someone? And it's like... magic?  
We have that, well, I think we do, and it's awesome."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. So, what's the deal with you guys? If she's  
not your girlfriend?"

"Well, we're close.. like, best friends. But.. you know how it is,  
when you love someone so much but they don't feel the same way?"

Gerard felt horribly awkward hearing Frank's description of someone he  
loved, who could so easily be Gerard, if only he was a girl...

"I've really missed you, Frankie."

"I've really missed you too." Frank smiled although he looked  
unbearably uncomfortable.

Frank's words gave Gerard butterflies, but he'd noticed how  
uncomfortable he looked so still told him, "You don't have to say it  
just because I did, I mean.. I don't mind if you haven't missed me  
back."

'Lie of the fucking century', thought Gerard.

Frank looked confused... "You think I moved to the same town as you by  
accident? The world's not that small, Gee. I need you."

Gerard's insides froze as he tried to comprehend what he meant.

"So.. what are you saying?"

"It's you, Gerard. I love you."

Frank hardly had time to finish the sentence before Gerard had leaned  
in to kiss his lips. Feeling foolish, he pulled away but Frank had  
grabbed the front of his t-shirt and was pulling him back in.

Gerard's head swam with happiness and his spine tingled. This was so  
close to The Fantasy, Gerard was having a hard time reminding himself  
that he wasn't dreaming.

Gerard took a breathe and whispered "Are you real life?"

Frank laughed and confirmed, "I'm about as real as you get."

Gerard smiled as he leaned his forehead against Frank's.

"This is the best day ever."


End file.
